Encountering Jesus

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Encountering Jesus
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• John 143-51
• Robert C. Newman

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Knowing God / Jesus
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• Salvation is often pictured as knowing God or
  knowing Jesus for example
• Isaiah 119
• Jeremiah 3133-34
• John 1014-15
• Philippians 310-11

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Isaiah 119
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9 (NIV) They will neither harm nor destroy on
all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full
of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover
the sea.
Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Jeremiah 3133-34
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33 (NIV) "This is the covenant I will make with
the house of Israel after that time," declares
the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and
write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a
man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all
know me, from the least of them to the greatest,"
declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their
wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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John 1014-15
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14 (NIV) "I am the good shepherd I know my sheep
and my sheep know men 15 just as the Father knows
me and I know the Fathernand I lay down my life
for the sheep.
Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Philippians 310-11
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10 (NIV) I want to know Christ and the power of
his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in
his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection
from the dead.
Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Knowing God / Jesus
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• The most important thing we can do with our lives
  is getting to know God, and then getting to know
  him better and better.
• This includes knowing who Jesus is and what He
  has done.
• Here, we want to look at a puzzling incident from
  Jesus time on earth where we learn something of
  who He is and what He has done.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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John 143-46
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43 (NIV) The next day Jesus decided to leave for
Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow
me." 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from
the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael
and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote
about in the Law, and about whom the prophets
also wrotenJesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from
there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said
Philip.
Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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John 147-51
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47 (NIV) When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he
said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom
there is nothing false." 48 "How do you know
me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you
while you were still under the fig tree before
Philip called you." 49 Then Nathanael declared,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God you are the King
of Israel." 50 Jesus said, "You believe because
I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You
shall see greater things than that." 51 He then
added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of Man."
Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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The Narrative
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Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
11
Verses 43-44
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• Jesus finds Philip and calls him to follow.
• A sample of God taking the initiative, coming to
  look for us, calling us to follow Him.
• Sometimes, of course, God takes the initiative in
  such a way that it looks like we were looking for
  Him rather than vice versa.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 45
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• Philip goes and finds his friend Nathanael.
• He tells him about Jesus, that He is the Messiah,
  the fulfillment of OT prophecies.
• Like Philip, when we find Jesus, we will want to
  share Him with others.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
13
Verse 45
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• How did Philip know Jesus was the Messiah?
• We are not told.
• If we assume that Philip is the unnamed disciple
  of John the Baptist mentioned in verses 35-39,
  then his testimony matches that of Andrew to
  Peter in verse 41 and is based on the same
  evidence.
• If instead, John the Apostle is the unnamed
  disciple, we have to assume Philip had some
  similar unrecorded encounter with Jesus.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 45
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• What did Jesus say to Philip Andrew that day
  they spent together (verse 39)?
• It must have had something to do with OT prophecy
  about the Messiah.
• Perhaps Jesus explained some of the prophecies as
  he did to his disciples after His resurrection
  (Luke 24).
• Perhaps he started with Johns cry Look! The
  Lamb of God! and explained the symbolic
  significance of the sacrificial system.
• We dont know.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 45
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• But Philip found it convincing, even though Jesus
  has (apparently) not yet worked any miracles.
• Remember that Philip did have the testimony of
  John the Baptist
• Whose preaching had turned many to God
• Who had seen the sign from heaven at Jesus
  baptism
• We dont know how much of this John told Philip.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 46
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• Nathanael is skeptical.
• He has only the say-so of Philip, and it doesnt
  sound very convincing to him.
• Some fellow from one of the backwater villages in
  Galilee is the divinely promised Son of David,
  the Messiah that the Bible has been predicting
  for centuries?
• Nathanael, being rather blunt, says so.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 46
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• Philip decides the best way to respond is to
  introduce Nathanael to Jesus.
• If the arguments that convinced us dont convince
  someone else, maybe we should try to bring them
  into direct contact with Jesus.
• Since Jesus is not visibly here, we should pray
  for them, try to get them to begin reading the
  Gospels, or to attend a church where there are
  people who have been genuinely transformed.
• We cannot bring people into the kingdom
  ourselves, but God will let us share in His work.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 47
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• When Nathanael arrives, Jesus takes the
  initiative.
• He shows him that He knows intimate details about
  him that he could not know naturally.
• He knows something about Nathanaels character
  that Nathanael recognizes as true, distinctive
  and unusual.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 48
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• When Nathanael asks how Jesus knows this
• Jesus gives further evidence of the same sort
• I saw you under the fig tree before Philip
  called you.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verse 49
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• Nathanaels response shows that this is not
  something Jesus could have known naturally
• Say by Jesus being only 50 yards away
• Or by Philip telling Jesus.
• Possibly Jesus was referring to some significant
  spiritual event that had recently occurred.
• These two pieces of evidence click for
  Nathanael he accepts Philips claims.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verses 50-51
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• Jesus ends this incident with a very puzzling
  remark.
• You believe because of this? You will see
  heaven open and the angels of God ascending and
  descending upon the Son of Man.
• Part of this statement resembles that to Thomas
  when he finally believes (2029).
• But this statement is something opposite If you
  think this is something, you havent seen
  anything yet!

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Verses 50-51
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• But what is this thing Nathanael is going to see?
• Some connect it with the transfiguration.
• But Philip was not present at this.
• Others with the second coming.
• I think neither of these is correct.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Cryptic Sayings of Jesus
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• My time has not yet come (24)
• Destroy this temple (219)
• You must be born again (32)
• I give you living water (410)
• Eat the flesh of the Son of Man (653)
• Sickness not unto death (114)
• Predictions re/ Peter John (2118, 22)

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Jacobs Ladder
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• The wording of Jesus statement is almost
  identical to that of an incident in Jacobs dream
  in Genesis 28
• 12 (NIV) He had a dream in which he saw a
  stairway 12 Or ladder resting on the earth,
  with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels
  of God were ascending and descending on it.
• If this is Jesus point, then He is comparing
  Himself to Jacobs Ladder.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Jesus Like Some OT Object
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• Lamb of God (129)
• Temple (219)
• Bronze Serpent (314)
• Living Water? (410, 13 737)
• True Manna (632, 35)
• Light of the World (812)
• Pool of Siloam? (97)
• Good Shepherd (1014)
• Dying Grain (1224)
• True Vine (151)

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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If So, What Does It Mean?
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• Lamb of God (129) sacrifice for sin
• Temple (219) God dwelling with mankind
• Bronze Serpent (314) bringing healing
• Living Water? (410, 13 737) giving life
• True Manna (632, 35) giving life
• Light of the World (812) giving light
• Pool of Siloam? (97) curing blindness
• Good Shepherd (1014) lays down life for sheep
• Dying Grain (1224) dying to bring increase
• True Vine (151) means of fruitfulness

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Jacobs Ladder?
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• It was obviously a connection between heaven and
  earth.
• Jesus is the one mediator between God mankind.
• It was a way to God to heaven.
• Jesus is the Way, the Truth the Life.
• Perhaps the true living way
• There is no other way to God heaven.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Jacobs Ladder?
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• Are we to make anything of the angels ascending
  descending on the Son of Man?
• Not sure not all features of these symbols carry
  over to Jesus (e.g., he is not a lamb).
• Perhaps it is to indicate the He would become the
  ladder by being trodden upon, just as He becomes
  our food by being eaten.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Jacobs Ladder?
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• I suggest this symbol pictures Jesus as the way
  in which we can return to God by means of His
  death on the cross.
• So, even greater (than Jesus miraculous power to
  know Nathanaels character hidden actions) is
  Jesus love that He will lay down His life to
  rescue us from our sins provide a way back to
  God.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Some Lessons
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Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Some Lessons
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• The narrative is Christ-centered.
• Jesus is the center of the Gospels, and indeed,
  of human history.
• There is more to Jesus than meets the eye, but we
  dont need to know all of this right away.
• We just need enough to come to Him.
• The evidence God has provided is more than enough
  for this.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Some Lessons
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• Jesus takes the initiative with us as with Philip
  and Nathanael.
• The Son of Man has come to seek to save the
  lost.
• Just as Philip goes to find his friend Nathanael,
  so our encounter with Jesus should cause us to
  want others to know Him too.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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Some Lessons
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• Jesus knows us intimately nothing about us is
  hidden from him.
• In spite of this, He seeks us to be His own.
• But even greater than His knowledge of us is His
  love for us
• That He would give His own life to bring us back
  to Him.

Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks
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The End
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Abstracts of Powerpoint Talks